In a couple of weeks, I will be attending a symposium on 21st century learning. These are definitely exciting times full of endless possibilities and I am eager to learn more. It seems that shortly after I had entered the teaching profession we were introduced to smart technology and now we are talking about augmented reality. The next thing you know we will be living like our fictitious Star Trek counterparts in a world of holodecks and replicators. In the meantime, we can give our children a glimpse of what is waiting for them in the future by introducing them to Cypher Kids Club Augmented Reality Cards.

As part of the Cypher Kids Club campaign, I made a trip to one of select Walmart locations where they carry the learning cards and picked up one of each set: Letters, Numbers and Wild Animals. You can view my #CypherKidsClub album on Google+ for more photos detailing my shopping experience. I knew even before opening the box that the animal cards would be the most popular set but my son and I also enjoyed the letters set, especially when it came to the letters in his name.




In order to experience the 3D flash cards, you need to have an an iPhone 4 or higher, iPad 2 or 3, iPod Touch 4th Generation or higher as well as the corresponding app, which is free. Our iPad is an original so we resorted to using my iPhone 4. It would have been much easier to use an iPad since the iPhone screen is so much smaller in comparison. One thing I found to be helpful was using a grip stand to keep the phone steady. You can see in the video below how the stand comes in handy and allows my son to freely look through the cards.

I really love the concept of using 3D flashcards but I have to admit $30 seems a bit much for a pack of cards. If they ever go on sale, I would recommend buying them for that tech-savvy 3-5 year old on your shopping list.